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ZB vz. 26
|barrel= |weight= |justweight= |width= |height= |magazine=20-round detachable box magazine |cycle=500rpm |minrange= |effective= |range= |alt= |usedby= |velocity= }}The ZB vz. 26, commonly known as the ZB-26, was a Czechoslovak light machine gun designed by Václav Holek in 1924 and produced predominantly by Zbrojovka Brno from 1924 to 1953. One of the most common light machine guns during the early to mid-20th century, the ZB-26 was a highly influential design, serving as design inspiration for many of the crew-served magazine-fed light machine guns for years to come. History In the 1920s, the Czechs were looking for new, modern light machine guns. To find machine guns, the government decided to hold trials of their own, testing many different machine guns from all over Europe; this included Berthiers, Madsens and Darnes, alongside a number of local designs. Of all the designs, the weapon that was considered the best was a design submitted by brothers Václav and Emmanuel Holek, known as the Praga II A.http://www.vhu.cz/exhibit/cs-pokusny-kulomet-praga-ii-a-s-vodnim-chlazenim/ Eventually, the II A was developed into the I-23; the I-23 was submitted for trials in 1924, where it competed against a Browning design. The tests increasingly showed the advantages of the Browning design over the Praga design, so Holek went to improve his design even further; Holek redesigned his I-23 to use a box magazine instead of a drum magazine, with the main difference being that the magazine fed from above as opposed to below. The I-23 became the vz. 24,Šáda, Miroslav, Československé ruční palné zbraně a kulomety, 2004 and was then tested; the weapon was then selected to become the official Czech machine gun. The weapon began production on CZ-Praga production lines, although it was later decided to move production to the more advanced ZB production lines; this would cause a series of legal disputes by both companies over production royalties, as CZ owned the design although ZB was given the rights to manufacture. These disputes had begun just as the weapon was entering the design phase and continued for a while after. With the help of two other designers, Anton Marek (an Austrian engineer) and Antonín Podrábský (a Polish expatriate), Holek, his brother Emmanuel and the other two designers began work on what would become the ZB vz. 26 from the vz. 24.https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/MG/I/MG-4.html Production of the ZB-26 began in 1926 despite the legal disputes, with the weapon eventually becoming the standard light machine gun of the Czechoslovak Army in 1928; when in service, it was designated the LK vz. 26 (Czech: L'''ehký '''K'ulomet 'vz'or 1926'', lit. "light machine gun model 1926"). The weapon was also exported to some 26 other countries.https://www.forgottenweapons.com/zb26-the-best-of-the-light-machine-guns/ The weapon served as the standard light machine gun of the Czech Army until 1953, when it was retired. In the 1930s, the ZB vz. 26 was adapted for British use with the rights bought by RSAF Enfield to become the Bren light machine gun, which served as the standard British light machine gun during World War II. When the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, German soldiers seized many of vz. 26s still in factory stock and took them as their own. When the ZB-26 was retired from service, the design had been highly copied and used by many different countries as a basis for their machine guns, Japan and the United Kingdom included. Design Details The ZB-26 was an air-cooled, magazine-fed select-fire light machine gun feeding from top-mounted twenty-round box magazines. The weapon is gas operated, with the gas piston being underneath the barrel. The weapon has a forward-sliding dust cover and a non-reciprocating charging handle on the right of the weapon. As the weapon has a top-mounted magazine, iron sights cannot be mounted on the weapon in a conventional manner; instead, they are mounted off to the left of the weapon. The weapon's action, gas-operated with a tilting breechblock, is regarded as being extremely reliable and causes the weapon to be very controllable. Ammunition The weapon is chambered in '''7.92×57mm Mauser. Variants Many variants of the ZB-26 were produced over its lifespan. These include: Czechoslovak ;vz. 24 Precursor to the weapon.http://www.vhu.cz/exhibit/lehky-kulomet-zb-26/ ;vz. 27 Variant proposed to Portugal and the United Kingdom.http://www.vhu.cz/exhibit/cs-lehky-kulomet-zb-vz-27/ Eventually developed into the Bren light machine gun. ;vz. 30 Improved version of the vz. 26. ;ZGB 30 Improved version of the vz. 30 for use in British trials. ;ZGB 33 Final improvement of the vz. 30; would eventually become the Bren light machine gun in this form. ;ZB 39 Further improvement of the ZGB 33, quite similar to the Bren.https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30029730 ;vz. 52 Postwar development of the vz. 26. Did not enter serial production. Similar weapons ;Fusil ametrallador Oviedo Spanish copy produced by Oviedo Arsenal. Also known as the FAO Type 59. 10,508 produced. ;Type 97 tank machine gun Japanese copy produced by the Nagoya Arsenal. Meant for use in tanks and other vehicular mounts. Gallery ZGB30_7.92mm.jpg|ZGB 30 in 7.92×57mm Mauser. ZGB30_.303.jpg|ZGB 30 converted to .303 British. ZGB33.jpg|ZGB 33 with 20-round magazine. ZGB34.jpg|ZGB 34 with 30-round magazine. See also *Bren light machine gun, British development of the vz. 26 *Type 97 tank machine gun, Japanese copy of the vz. 26 made for use in tanks *Type 96 light machine gun, Japanese development of the vz. 26 *Type 99 light machine gun, follow up to the Type 96 References Category:Light machine guns